@ruthvitale1: Google’s false altruism on mobile popup ads ban

When Google announced last month that they would begin demoting websites with these pop-up ads on their search results, I immediately knew that my meeting escapism would be dramatically improved. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, rejoiced – these ads suck, and everyone agrees.

But let’s be real – it wasn’t altruism on Google’s part. It’s more likely about opportunism. You see, pop-up ads don’t make Google a dime. So by demoting websites that are both annoying to users AND that don’t use their advertising service, Google leaves websites that depend on these pop-up advertisements with little choice but to switch to forms of advertising that Google, conveniently, does sell. After all, if you’re a business, being at the top of a Google search is the difference between success and failure – so making sure that your site doesn’t suffer from demotion is absolutely imperative to staying afloat.